Halfway Down the Block
by Chibi-Kari
Summary: Sometimes her husband could be a bit dense. But she never thought Ryoma was that bad. It took him halfway down the block to register what Sakuno said. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Chibi-Kari: This may be multi-chaptered based on responses from you reviews. I don't own POT and I don't have money…please don't sue. Sakuno is a little less shy and Ryoma is a bit more talkative…sorry.**

**Halfway Down the Block**

Sakuno stirred the pot for what seemed like the hundredth time. She was waiting for her husband to get home from playing a game with his father. She was making him some udon to help calm him down. Whenever he came home from his father's he would be worked up into a frenzy and muttering things like dirty old man.

She smiled slightly at the thought. Her father-in-law wasn't that bad, sure he did hit on her when he danced with her after the wedding. She could remember the line perfectly, 'If my good for nothing brat doesn't treat you well we could always runaway together. A pretty little thing like you could learn a lot from a man like me.' Sakuno knew it was all in good fun, but Ryoma didn't take it well. He was going to have his father thrown out for that.

He was always worked up when it came to his father. That was one of the few times she could actually get emotions out of him. Her husband wasn't one for public displays of affection, but he could be charming and sweet in his own little way. The way he would brush her hair lightly with his hand while they watched tennis at night, or when he would give her hug and kiss when he came home. Most people would find their lack of affection strange…borderline dysfunctional, but she knew her husband…most of the time. Every once in awhile she would question how much he understood emotionally. He could be really dense sometimes. Like last year, two weeks before the wedding they had gotten into a fight and what did he do when she told him she wanted to be alone? He left, and he didn't just leave. Ryoma went and played tennis with the rest of the old team like nothing was wrong. He was lucky she was so understanding.

And she knew he would be in an awful mood when he came home. He would probably want to go play tennis with Fuji, Momo, and the rest of the team. But she couldn't let him do that tonight. She had some news for him, news that would probably work him into a bigger frenzy than he was when he was with his father.

"Sakuno." His voice rang through the house, she could hear him shuffling to take his shoes off and shut the door.

She closed her eyes and held her breath briefly. It was now or never, well not really never…but she probably would wait until he noticed to say something, if she didn't say it now. "In the kitchen!" Her voice was soft, it probably rivaled from when they first met.

She could feel him come up behind her as he gave her the customary hug and kiss, "What are you doing?"

"I cooked you some udon as a special surpri-"

"I'm not hungry. I'm actually going to go play tennis with Momo and the rest of the old team." She could hear him start to leave the room again, "I'll be back soon!"

She turned around quickly and followed him into the hallway towards the door, "Wait! But I worked so hard and I really-"

"I'll be back later, I'll eat it when I come back. I already called them. I need to get going."

She watched silently as her husband put his shoes back on and went to grab for the bag. It was times like this that she hated mobile phones, her husband, and tennis. "I need to tell-"

Just then there was a knock on the door and the next thing she knew; Eiji, Fuji, and Momo were standing at her door.

Ryoma turned around to face his wife once more, "I'll eat when I come home. Whatever you have to say can wait until after tennis. Bye." He raised one hand in the air while the other picked up his bag.

This was all she could take. How could her husband be so dense? She glared at her husband's back. She could tell she looked fierce when she caught Momo stiffening out of the corner of her eye. She balled her fists. He could go, that was fine, but she was going to get in what she needed to say. "Fine, go. But I hope you don't come back."

That stopped him; she could tell by the way his body went ridged that he wouldn't be able to keep his calm demeanor if he looked at her. His voice rang out harsh and cold, just like she had expected. "What? Don't be ridiculous over soup." His voice sounded like all those times when she was younger and he told her that her hair was too long or she wasn't bending her knees enough.

He had aimed to make her apologize, but that wouldn't work. No, she had him and she wasn't going to back down this time, "I'm not being ridiculous, and this isn't about soup. I don't think I want to come between you and your true love tennis anymore. I mean me and the baby; we are just going to weigh you down. You'll never get to play tennis constantly like you want to." Sakuno was slightly relieved when Fuji opened his eyes and smiled at her, but the true response was going to come from her husband.

He spun around and stared her straight in the eyes; that was a step in the right direction, "You are more important than tennis, I don't know why you decided to pitch a fit about this now. I'll be back later." Ryoma pushed his way forward through the three men who now had a look of disbelief on their faces. Momo's eyes were wide and his mouth hung open as he stared at Sakuno.

She just placed a hand to her forehead. She should have just opted to not tell him. He probably wouldn't have noticed until he had to start paying the University bill. He probably wouldn't even question why there was another person eating with them.

She heard shuffling and opened her eyes in time to see Momo get pushed into the doorway as her husband appeared in her line of sight again, "Baby?"

Sakuno smiled to herself; maybe her husband wasn't really as emotionally dense as she thought he was, "Yes."

Ryoma blinked several times with a blank face on, and then he turned back to his old teammates, "About tennis." Her breath caught in her lungs, if he was going to go out and play tennis at a time like this she was definitely going to kill him, "I don't think I'll be joining in tonight."

"That's alright, Ochibi." Eiji said as he started to bounce up and down, "Sakuno, your going to have a chibi-Ochibi!"

Fuji smiled brightly, "For a minute I thought he was going to miss what you said."

"I did too." Sakuno smiled back at the tall man.

"Congrats, Echizen!" Momo smiled as he hit the young man on the back. "Well now I win that bet Eiji. Cough up."

"Ah man, it's not my fault. Inui didn't even think they kissed before. The data was on my side."

Fuji pushed both men out as he shut the door behind them, "Goodnight."

Sakuno nodded towards the closing door, she then let her vision settle on the back of her husband. "I really thought you missed it there for a minute."

He grumbled slightly as he turned back around and started to walk towards her, "Mada Mada Dane."

She smiled to herself. It took him halfway down the block to realize what she said.

**Chibi-Kari: I might go on, a humor section about how Ryoma and different members of the team would deal with the months of pregnancy. But that's only if I get some good feedback. Please review! And thanks for reading!**


	2. You Make Me Sick

**Chibi-Kari: Wow, I never expected to get such good reviews. I'm going to try and make this funny. This episode does have the quantity of humor I normally like, but I think it'll bring a smile to most faces. Trust me, it'll get funnier later on and I will try to work all the characters in. I plan for Inui to be in the next one. I don't own and thanks for the reviews!**

**Halfway Down the Block**

**You Make Me Sick**

Ryoma hit his pillow as he tried a new position to sleep in. The problem was positions on the couch were limited. It wasn't like Sakuno didn't want him in their bed, that wasn't the problem. It was the stupid morning sickness. He growled slightly, he couldn't even figure out why they called in morning sickness. It didn't happen in the morning, it just happened any time he was around.

"It should be called sensitivity to Ryoma sickness." He mumbled to himself as he rolled over again.

They had no idea what was going on, but any time he walked in the room she would make a run for the bathroom. It was starting to get ridiculous. She actually moved all of his things out of their bathroom to the guest bathroom while he was playing tennis with Eiji one day. That bathroom didn't even have a shower! He had to wait for her to be in the kitchen to take a shower.

He hadn't been able to sleep in two days but he had decided a few things, they would need a bigger apartment. They had only one bedroom. After thinking about it, he had decided they would buy a house. It had to have three bedrooms at least; one for them, one for the baby, and one for him to sleep in if this ever happened again. He also thought of three new tennis moves and how to perfect the current one he was working on. All the good that came out of the situation was only cause to annoy him all the more. He was at the point where he didn't want to play tennis if it meant not sleeping with his wife…maybe that was a bit too drastic, but after two weeks on the couch he was pretty sure he would give up tennis…later.

"Uggh!" Ryoma gave up on the pillow and threw it across the room. But with the luck that he had going for him, it hit the bedroom door. Within seconds the light went on and he could hear his wife enter the doorway.

"Ryoma?" He cringed as her voice rang through the room. She hadn't been sleeping well lately either and worried him. So he did the only thing he could think of doing, feign sleep. She didn't need anything to worry about. "Ryoma, I know you're awake. Your pillow is by the door."

If he could mentally groan he would, "I'll get it in a minute. Go back to bed."

He could hear her shuffling her feet towards him, "I'll bring it to you."

"Don't do that. You'll just get sick." He growled at her, immediately regretting it when he heard her stop and gasp.

Her voice was soft when she responded, "I'll take my chances."

Before he knew it she was sitting on the side of the couch, the pillow already behind his head, and her hand caressing his cheek. "I missed you." She mumbled.

"I know." He answered, "But you need to get some sleep."

"I can't sleep without you."

Ryoma couldn't help but smirk at that. That was until her hand went to her mouth and she made a run for the bathroom. He assaulted his pillow again as he called out, "You alright?"

He cringed at the sounds she was making, and after a moment she called out, "Yeah."

He slammed his head on the pillow; how they were going to make it through lunch with Momo and Ann tomorrow, he didn't know. And how was he going to make it through the rest of the pregnancy.

**The Next Day**

Momo and Sakuno walked down the road side by side chatting idly…they looked like the perfect couple. The only problem was their significant others were walking a good two feet behind them.

Ann turned to Ryoma and smiled lightly at him, "Don't worry, it shouldn't even last the whole fourteen weeks."

Ryoma groaned; he didn't care if this was a show of emotion in front of Ann. It was unbelievable. Ann had explained to both of them what was really going on. Thanks to the fact that she was a nurse. Something about meddling and helping at the same time had attracted her to the career.

**Flashback**

Ryoma and Sakuno sat at an outdoor café as they waited for Momo and Ann. Ryoma wanted to throw his tennis racket at the men the table over that kept glancing at his wife. But no, he left his racket at home and this was the closest he could get to his wife without her vomiting.

"Hi guys!" He heard Ann's voice ring out.

Sakuno got up to greet her friend with a hug, during some tournament during junior high they had become friends. Ryoma wasn't listening closely when they had relayed the story to him. But right now he was jealous; jealous that he couldn't hug his wife, but her friend could.

Well, he was jealous until Sakuno squeaked, covered, her mouth, and ran into the café. Well at least he knew that no one could hug her right now…or so he thought until she came back out and hugged Momo. He waited but she didn't throw up. So they arranged the seating arrangements based on that. Momo and Sakuno on one side of the time, whereas Ann and himself were on the other.

"I'm sorry, Ann. You smell awful." Sakuno said softly as she sat next to her friend's fiancé.

"It's alright, Sakuno. It's natural to become sensitive to smells and tastes." Ann said as she smiled at her friend.

"Will it go away?" Sakuno asked glancing over at Ryoma.

Ann laughed gleefully, "Is that why Ryoma isn't sitting by you? You're sensitive to his smell?" Sakuno blushed lightly and Ryoma just crossed his arms, "Don't worry, Ryoma. It's probably not you. It could be your cologne, shampoo, or soap. My suggestion is to try and change those things and see what works. And Sakuno, it's going to get worse before it gets better. Soon you'll start having problems with food too, if you aren't already."

Sakuno looked confused for a moment, "Wait, I thought my appetite was going to get bigger. Not that I would be throwing up constantly."

"It'll fluctuate. You'll be eating some pretty messed up stuff for awhile." Ann said shaking her head lightly.

"Don't lie to me." Sakuno said waving her friend's comment off.

"You'll find out." Ann said in a singsong voice.

**End of Flashback**

All Ryoma knew was that when he got home he would shower for an hour with soap that Sakuno found didn't make her sick. And then he would throw out all of toiletries and finally be in the same room as his wife for more than five seconds. He just prayed it worked. If it didn't he really would take his racket to something and since it couldn't be Ann, Momo would have to do. Momo needed a beat down for looking like a couple with his wife, anyway.

**TBC**

**Chibi-Kari: Thanks for reading. Please review. I hope you guys liked the chapter.**


	3. Sushi Sushi All Around

**Chibi-Kari: I never expected to get near the reviews that I have gotten! Thank you all so much. Now question time, do we ever find out where Sakuno's parents are? The general consensus on is that they're dead. Does that ever come up in the show? And some news. I'll be fly back to London on Wednesday, so I won't be back in my dorm until Thursday, hoping all goes well. I'm in Florida right now and there is a tropical storm making it's way here for Wednesday morning, thus my flight to Huston might be delayed or my flight to London…or even worse one of the flights could be canceled! So let's hope not, the faster I can get to my dorm, the faster I can update! Just warning I might not be able to update before my trip. I don't own and thank you everyone for reading! P.S. All food information came from my friend who is teaching English in Japan for the year.**

**Halfway Down the Block**

**Sushi Sushi All Around**

Momo could tell Ryoma wasn't fairing well with Sakuno's pregnancy. Ann had assured him that Ryoma was just getting out frustration when Momo was checked into the emergency room after a particularly rough game of tennis, in which Momo got hit by seven tennis balls and Ryoma's racquet…twice. But now, Ryoma was at least able to be in Sakuno's presence without her running to the bathroom. He seemed in better temperament after that. Maybe that was the problem, he couldn't be in the vicinity of his wife…and that meant…

"Hey, Fuji. Remember when Sakuno was sick because of Ryoma?" Momo whispered to the taller man next to him.

"Yeah," replied Fuji with his trademark smile adorning his features.

"If he couldn't be around her, that would mean he wasn't getting any." Momo whispered back with a grin.

"That assumption would go along with my data." A voice next to him entered the conversation. "But there is a 100 possibility that he was annoyed that he couldn't even be around her. Since junior high they have always been in the same vicinity. Well, besides when Echizen went to America, but as my data states he saw her first when he came back." Inui flipped a page in his notebook and glanced over at the couple sitting at the far side of the picnic blanket.

Since junior high, the regulars, Sakuno, and for some reason Ann had a picnic once a month. It was a way for them all to keep in touch, although they didn't seem to need it because almost every night the guys were playing tennis with each other.

Inui started writing again as Ann and Sakuno struck up a conversation, "Have you been eating anything strange lately, Sakuno?"

Sakuno smiled lightly as she looked on to her friend. Normally Ann would be sitting next to Momo, but seeing as her husband gave Ann's fiancé a concussion, he was sitting as far away from Ryoma as he could get. "No. Not really."

"Last night she ate ebi-mayo pizza." Ryoma said as he turned from his wife to Ann.

"Eww!" Came a squeal from across the blanket. Eiji covered his face dramatically as he spoke, "mayonnaise and popcorn shrimp on pizza!"

Sakuno turned her attention to him, "It's good. And it isn't weird. It's on the menu."

"That doesn't excuse it." Eiji mumbled causing Oishi to grin at him. "I'm hungry though, where is Kawamura?"

"I'm hungry too!" Sakuno smiled happily.

"Hi everyone! I brought a lot of sushi. I hope you are all hungry!" Kawamura called as he walked slowly over to the rest of the group. "I'm sorry I was late, one of the cooks decided to take an extra fifteen minutes on his break. But he came back after awhile."

"You're too nice, you should have reprimanded him." Tezuka said as he shifted in the ground next to Ryoma.

"Well it wasn't that big of a deal. I'm here no anyway. Dig in everyone!" Kawamura said as he opened the containers of sushi and placed them on the picnic blanket.

Sakuno looked on as he opened each container and the smell entered the surrounding air. Within seconds she was up and running for the bathroom.

"What happened? Does my sushi smell bad. I thought roast beef sushi was Sakuno's favorite?" Kawamura looked down at his hands shyly.

"It's not your fault. She's just sensitive to certain foods. It comes with being pregnant." Ann said as she picked up her chopsticks and glanced at her food. "Maybe someone should switch with her. She might be able to eat something else."

Sakuno came back and turned her attention to Kawamura, "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry you went to all the trouble, but I don't think I can eat that." She pointed at the offending sushi as she stood on the other side of the blanket behind Fuji.

Fuji looked up at the woman behind him smiling slight. In a swift move his picked up his chopstick and a piece of sushi and shoved it in her mouth, "You can have some of mine. We wouldn't want your baby starving."

Everyone looked on in shock and horror. Ryoma stood up, his calm demeanor shattered, "You can't give her wasabi sushi!"

Sakuno chewed with a thoughtful look on her face. Kawamura looked like he was going to faint and Inui had stopped writing. She smiled lightly, "That's wonderful, but I need something to drink. Are you sure I can share with you?"

"Sure you can share." Fuji smiled at her as he moved to give her some room.

Sakuno smiled at the man beside her as she caught Ryoma glaring from the corner of her eye. She reached forward and grabbed Fuji's drink.

"Wait-"

"Don't-"

Echoes of those words came from across the blanket. Her husband had reached forward as if to smack the drink away from her only to fall across Kaidoh's sushi, Kaidoh himself didn't care as he looked on in disbelief as Sakuno took a gulp of the drink.

She smiled, "That's wonderful, what is it?"

"My newest creation. I have yet to name it. Fuji was trying it for me." Inui smiled as the rest of the group looked on.

Sakuno turned to Fuji, "May I have the rest of this?"

Fuji's eyes were open as he looked on at the woman next to him, "Sure, but even I didn't like it."

**TBC**

**Chibi-Kari: Thanks for reading I hope you all enjoyed this. Kaidoh is the next victim of Sakuno's pregnancy! All ideas are welcome…I'm known to write using other's ideas if I like them!**


	4. She's Crazy

**Chibi-Kari: Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews! My flight has been messed up so it seems that I'll be driving to the other coast to try and make a different flight so I can get back to school on time, the hurricane/tropical storm whatever it is, is heading straight for my home town. I won't be able to update again until I get to school. Thank you so much for the suggestions! Please keep them coming. I didn't even think about the indirect kisses until someone commented on it…it was perfect for the story! Thank you! I don't own and please, please keep the ideas coming!**

**Halfway Down the Block**

**She's Crazy**

Ryoma didn't think he could take this lack of sleep anymore. Sure he was able to sleep with Sakuno now, but he didn't seem to get any sleep. It first started last week.

_**Flashback**_

Ryoma had been sleeping peacefully. He had a grueling tennis match to get ready for his tournament in two weeks. So there he was sleeping peacefully.

_Poke._

He shifted slightly as he vaguely felt something prod his side through his sleep.

_Poke._

This time he floated more towards consciousness as he felt the prod again.

_Poke._

This time he mumbled slightly as he swatted at the offending object that was waking him from his sleep. He needed to get up at four a.m. He didn't have time for his bed to malfunction on him.

_Poke._ "Ryoma. I know you're awake."

He rolled over to look at his wife. He was awake now and he also knew it wasn't his bed malfunctioning…it as his wife. "What?"

"I'm hungry." She said as she reached forward and placed her offending hand on his chest.

"Okay. Go get something." He rolled away from her, to show her that he was done listening.

"That's the problem." Her small voice cut clearly through the silence.

"What?" He knew he was tired, but he really didn't think he was that tired, "What's the problem?"

She groaned lightly as she put her hand on his shoulder and drew small circles with her fingers, "I'm too hungry to move."

He turned back to his wife, "You can't be that hungry. You've been poking me and putting your hands all over me. You must have enough energy to move. I have tennis," He glanced at the clock behind her head, "in an hour. I need to sleep."

She pulled away from him roughly as she sat up, "Fine." With a curt look at him she threw her legs over the edge of the bed, "Fuji would have gotten me food."

That was more than enough to get him going. Lately she had been all about how great Fuji was. He was constantly bringing her out to lunch and experimenting with her in the kitchen. And then Ryoma couldn't forget how Momo got himself sent back to the emergency room. After the picnic last week Momo had come up to him and said something that really upset him…more than his wife's eating habits. He pointed out that Fuji and Sakuno had shared two indirect kisses. At that Ryoma had accidentally tripped him into the basket of balls. It wasn't his fault that Momo had fallen three times over the balls. But when his wife found out she was furious. And then she found out what Momo had said and was now not letting him live it down, "No. Lay back down I'll do it."

"No. I'm already up." She raised an eyebrow at her husband and pushed herself farther to the edge of the bed.

He grasped her arm and pulled her back over to the bed as he sat up, "Now you're not. What do you want?"

She laughed gleefully. Oh she knew how to get her way and it was killing him, "I want lettuce with mayonnaise and mustard on top. Oh you could put some pickles on top."

Ryoma's normally emotionless face turned into one of disgust.

He heard her sniffle and turned his gaze to her face, "You think I'm weird don't you? But I'm hungry. That's what I want. You hate me don't you?"

He didn't know what had just come over his wife but he didn't like it. Thinking that he hated her could lead to her finding a comforting arm with another man, or worse Fuji. "I don't hate you and I'm going to get it now." He just prayed he could make it through making the food for her without throwing up.

_**End of Flashback**_

But now it was even worse, she no longer got him up to get her food in the middle of the night, well sometimes she did. But what was more disturbing was her gain of energy. Right now, two hours before he had to get up and get ready to play tennis in his tournament, she was vacuuming the living room. It was seriously killing him; she had only slept for five hours over the past three days.

_Ding Dong_

He heard the vacuum go off and his wife shuffle towards the front door. He heard a gruff mumble and a squeal of delight emit from his wife. Ryoma had an idea that it was someone from the old tennis team. Ann had been talking to Sakuno about her soar in energy. Ann had suggested exercise to burn off some of the excess. If this worked, Ryoma would be sure to leave her fiancé alone for the rest of the pregnancy. That was _if _it worked.

The light flicked on and he groaned. As he opened his eyes he was met with the face of his wife. She was beaming down at him, "Kaidoh and I are going for a run! Isn't that exciting? I know it's still dark out, but I feel good. Maybe this will help me sleep at night!" Her mouth was moving fast as she bounced up and down in a way that truly reminded Ryoma of Eiji.

"Fine." He rolled over and covered his eyes with his arms, anything to get her out of the apartment and get him to sleep.

Quickly she bounded out the door and Ryoma laid in the silence. Within what seemed to be seconds the alarm blared through the room and he groaned, "Damn alarm clock." He hit it hard as he looked at the time. It had been two hours since Sakuno had left. He had only expected her to have been gone for an hour, if that. Sakuno didn't have a high amount of stamina. She couldn't even last a full game with him. He put on his slippers and made his way to the living room, he was trying his best to ease the uneasy feeling that was bubbling in his stomach.

What if something had happened?

Were pregnant women supposed to run?

Questions started to jumble in his mind as he made a dive for the phone; just then he heard the door open. He leaned back and looked through the door. He saw something he would have never expected. There was his wife standing in full glory a light sheen of sweat trickling down her neck, pulling Kaidoh behind her.

"I thought you said you run three times a day, every day. How come you couldn't keep up with me? Oh, no matter, we'll just start running together every morning. Before long you'll get your stamina back again."

Ryoma smirked at the man standing behind his wife, looking like he was barely able to stand but was still able to glare solidly at his wife. But Ryoma was slightly confused; he knew that Kaidoh had an unmatched amount of stamina, or at least until that moment.

"Oh! Ryoma you're awake? I'll make breakfast for the both of you. Traditional Japanese? Great! Give me five minutes." With that she ran for the kitchen.

They both looked on in awe. Kaidoh broke the silence and with a huff he said, "She ran straight for two hours and now she's going to make breakfast. I don't even think I can stand; I'd rather drink Inui juice than go through that again. She's crazy."

Ryoma looked on as he shook his head lightly, "I know."

**TBC**

**Chibi-Kari: Thanks for reviewing, please continue! I love to read your reactions and your suggestions are extremely helpful! Please, if you read…review! Oh, and these are actual symptoms during pregnancy, I've done my research!**


	5. Unpredictable Moods

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Chibi-Kari: I'm back again, sorry about the wait. I'm extremely food sensitive and the U.K. doesn't use preservatives in their foods, so I got sick for the first week, and then of course three flats all shared sickness…and I was in one of the flats. So here I am, still trying to recover and enjoy London. I snuck out and went to the River Thames Festival last night, against the rest wishes…and my flat mates and I have a bad habit of going out to the pubs every night. So, I haven't been updating. But I will. I don't own and I will be updating this in about two or so days. I'm leaving Friday for Amsterdam, so it'll be guaranteed before Friday!****

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Halfway Down the Block**

**Unpredictable Moods

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Sakuno stomped through the room as she glanced at the clock. Ryoma should have been home by now, but he wasn't. Two minutes ago she had been planning a special night between them, but that was before he decided to be later than usual. His tennis tournament had gotten out several hours before and she had given him more than enough time to get home. Now she was furious. She felt something she never had before, a bubbling hatred for her dense husband. Suddenly all of the things that he had ever done wrong came back full force into her mind. It was driving her crazy.

She jumped slightly as she heard the key in the door, it could only be her husband, so she did the only thing she could think of. She reached over and as soon as she heard her husband's voice she took the glass that had been sitting on the counter and chucked it at his head. Luckily, Ryoma was used to ducking from balls coming at his head. The only thing that saved him, his superior tennis skills, was also that which was condemning him.

"What the-" He looked over from his crouch position near the floor.

Sakuno bounded towards the door, looking down at her husband.

"All my data could never have predicted that." The static voice of Inui rang through the doorway.

Sakuno's eyes widened when she looked up to see all the old regulars standing in her doorway. "What are you all doing here?"

"We ran into Ryoma after the game, and we decided that we would get some food and bring it over here so we could all celebrate and you wouldn't have to cook." Fuji said smiling his normal smile.

Her breath caught in her throat as tears came to her eyes. "Thank you all so much!" She ran forward and hugged Fuji, much to Ryoma's chagrin. Then she proceeded to hug all the rest of the members. Within seconds she was down on the floor next to her husband, hugging him and crying about how wonderful he was.

He lifted his wife with him as he stood and vaguely gestured to the broken remains of the glass, "What was that about?"

Her eyes widened in horror as she glanced down at the offending glass. "Oh I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I was just angry you were late. I'm sorry, don't leave me!"

"Why would I do that?" The question rang out, but it was more of a statement as Ryoma glanced over at the tennis prodigy that was smiling at his wife. "Even if you had hit me I still wouldn't leave you." He leaned in to give his wife a kiss on the cheek when Kaidoh cleared his throat, stopping all public displays of affection.

"Let's eat!" Momo yelled as he pushed his way through to the living room with the bags of food.

"Yes, let's." Sakuno said as she followed the taller man farther into her home.

They all settled down quickly on the floor and pulled out the food. Silence reigned as they all ate, that was until Eiji opened his mouth.

"Fuji, can you hand me that last piece of sushi, on the other side of Sakuno."

Silenced seemed to take over the room. Inui started muttering data under his breath, "There is a 97 chance that Sakuno will cry and a 120 chance that Ryoma will beat on Eiji."

"120?" Oishi asked as he looked over at the man that had seemingly pulled a notebook and pen to his hands out of thin air.

"Yes. 100 chance he will beat him up and then a 20 chance he will beat on him again when he finishes." Inui replied quietly.

"Oh." The tall man looked at his old doubles partner. This was not good, not good at all.

But before Ryoma could get up, something surprising happened. Sakuno leapt up and started to hit Eiji with a pillow. They all stared on in shock as she repeatedly barreled him with the pillow. Momo was the one to actually pull her off the rambunctious redhead when she started smothering the poor man.

"Well…" Inui stated looking on the scene. "I wasn't exactly expecting that to be the remaining 3, but my data never fails me."

Kaidoh stared at his old senpai in mild disbelief. Inui's data would never fail him because of his twisted logic. Sakuno was unpredictable that was for certain.

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**TBC

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**Chibi-Kari: Sorry again for the delay. I'm writing the next one right now! Please Review!

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	6. Houses, Bears, and Men

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Chibi-Kari: Well, here is the chapter before the very last one! I hope you all enjoy this and the next. Two hours and counting until I leave for Amsterdam, and I still need to pack! Sorry about the shortness, but thank you for all the wonderful reviews I've gotten so far!

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**Halfway Down the Block**

**Houses, Bears, and Men

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There was only so much that Ryoma could do. Sakuno was driving him mad at the moment. Ann had said something about nesting. She had to have everything done before the baby came. But this was ridiculous, she still had two more months and here she was driving him ragged.

They had just bought a house the last month and started to buy furniture for the baby's room, when Ryoma got the biggest surprise of his life. He learned that his wife opted not to know the sex of the baby before birth. So now they were stuck not knowing exactly what to buy. Luckily he got stuck painting the room blue with little white clouds. Luckily, because he didn't have to go baby shopping with her and he didn't have to catch her trying to paint and inhaling fumes that could be dangerous to her and the baby.

He was just lucky that Oishi and Eiji decided to bring her to the store to buy the crib and some clothes. Eiji was the perfect person to go with her, Oishi was there as more of an insurance policy. Ryoma didn't really want to go broke before the baby arrived because Eiji and Sakuno got excited. Well at least Eiji was better than Ann and Tomoka. Those two were awful; he could still picture the baby shower in his mind.

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**Flashback

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He had never seen so many women in his life and was more than sure that Sakuno didn't know half of them, but there they were. Sitting in the living room, most of them drunk, how they got over fifty women in the small apartment he wasn't even sure. And worse, were there were presents falling out of the kitchen and into other rooms. But what really made him furious was the fact that there in the middle of _his_ living room and in front of _his_ wife, was a male stripper.

"**Get out!**" He boomed as he waved his hand over the crowd and pointed directly at the half dressed man in front of his blushing wife.

The room became a frenzy of women as they ran out of the room, the male stripper among them. Ryoma reached into the passing crowd and pulled out two women who immediately landed on their bottoms. "What did you think you were doing?" His voice was calm for a moment, and he was glad it wasn't betraying what he was feeling.

"Well, it was Ann's idea. And I agreed, we should have some fun at the baby shower, and I mean what's the harm? Men are allowed to go to strip clubs anytime they want. So based on the feminist movement we should be able-"

Ryoma raised a hand as he glared at both Ann and Tomoka. "**_I_** don't go to strip clubs, thus your logic falls through. If I don't go I don't want my wife staring at men. There is only one man she'll be staring at."

"Fuji?" Ann's voice came out light with a giggle which was quickly stifled when Ryoma turned on her. She was positive right there and then she wouldn't live to see her wedding day.

"Out. Now." Both women didn't hesitate.

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**End of Flashback

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Well, now Sakuno couldn't get in that kind of trouble. She had two grown men with her, and they were some of his closest friends. He could trust them not bring her to some place with a half naked man.

**With Sakuno, Eiji, and Oishi**

"It's a little strange that there was a half dressed man dancing in the middle of the mall." Oishi commented as they walked into the baby store.

"Well, the ladies seem to be enjoying it." Eiji said as he gestured over his shoulder towards the door of the store.

"Oh! Look, Eiji! It's a big teddy! Don't you think the baby would love that?" Sakuno started bouncing on her toes.

Eiji looked up and his eyes widened as they filled with tears, "It's perfect to start chibi-Ochibi's teddy collection!"

"I don't think that's sensible. I mean, that will practically take up the whole room. Where will you put the crib?"

Sakuno glared over her shoulder at him as she shrugged.

"You can put it in your living room!" Eiji shouted.

"Perfect! Then we'll get it!" Sakuno announced as she flagged a sales associate over to help her.

"Fine." Oishi muttered as he looked down at the list Ryoma gave to him with the instructions of not letting her stray too far from the list. Well, in his defense it did say small stuffed animal. And this bear was at least smaller than some of the others.

After what seemed like hours of shopping, they had to call Momo and Tezuka to bring their cars to help them bring all the things back to the Echizen household. And out of spite, Oishi set it up so that Tezuka would have to drive with Teddy, the giant bear, in his passenger seat. Normally Oishi would never have even thought of doing something like that, but that bear was _not_ going in his car, Sakuno was already in Eiji's car, and Momo had taken enough beatings from Ryoma that everyone pitied him.

Ryoma had just finished painting when he heard car doors slam in front of the house. He walked to the front door and almost burst out laughing, if he didn't have such good control over his emotions he would have, at the sight of his static old captain sitting with a giant bear next to him in the car.

He glanced at the rest of the cars. He wondered slightly why the shopping excursion started with two empty cars and ended with four cars about to burst.

Sakuno skipped up to him happily, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Look, we finished all the shopping! And look at that teddy, isn't it perfect?"

Ryoma smirked at his old captain, "It really is." He glanced at the rest of the group. "How about helping put it all away!"

Ryoma glanced backwards as he heard Oishi relaying a story to Momo, "And you wouldn't believe. There was this half naked guy stripping in the mall!" He blanched slightly as he pulled Sakuno a little closer to him. Well, now he knew he couldn't even trust his friends to keep her away from half naked men.

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**TBC

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**Chibi-Kari: The next one will be funnier, I promise, as it will be the last…and our last victim will be…Tezuka with a little fun poking at our hero Ryoma! Please Review!

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	7. Tezuka the Organized

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Chibi-Kari: Sorry for the wait, I've been busy writing papers for my classes. And now I'm about to start my midterm studies. Then off to Santorini for my ten day break! I don't own and I hope you enjoy the last chapter!****

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Halfway Down the Block**

**Tezuka the Organized

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She sighed, exasperated. The English video tapes that Ryoma had gotten her were the most boring things she had ever watched. Why couldn't she get any movies or television series on tape? Hell, at this point she'd settle for those English game shows that she could never understand the rules to.

She glanced back at Tezuka, "Can-"

The man didn't even look up from his book in the kitchen, "No. Echizen wants you to learn English."

Sakuno pouted lightly as she turned back, "Couldn't he have gotten me something more interesting to learn from, like a movie?"

"Obviously, he knows you wouldn't pay attention to it." Tezuka answered this time glancing up at the young woman, for the last hour she had been trying everything to get out of this. She made various trips to the kitchen, bathroom, and even her room because she complained that her clothes weren't fitting correctly. She had watched maybe five minutes in the last hour.

"I'm watching Baby Einstein for God's sake!" She threw her arms up in the air as she said them and proceeded to cross them. Here she was watching this God forsaken program because her husband thought she needed to learn English so they're baby could be bilingual, like he was. She had taken English during school, just because she couldn't remember anything except the few phrases that Ryoma chose to say at random times wasn't her fault. This was the stupidest thing that could ever happen to her…scratch that…second stupidest.

"Bring it up with him when he gets home from the tournament tonight." Tezuka said glancing at the woman as she had suddenly gone ridged and quiet. "Wh-"

"Tezuka…I-I think I'm having the baby." Sakuno said quietly before she grabbed on to the couch again.

"You are not-"

"**Shit!**" Her voice boomed in the room as she slouched her back slightly to get in more of a laying position.

Tezuka's eyes widened at the sound. The little timid girl in front of him did curse; of course she was a young woman now. He stood up slowly and walked to Sakuno's side. "Did your water break?" Oh God, did he never want to have to say that again.

"No…er-yeah." Sakuno said after a moment of hesitation.

Tezuka's mind was whirling, but Sakuno couldn't see anything as she looked up at the man standing in front of her, wouldn't he do something?

Within a flash he had his cell phone out. At a time like this you should call the man that knows all the answers, "Inui? Sakuno's having the baby…yeah…no…get what? Sakuno where's your hospital bag? Oh, fine. I'm going now."

He snapped the phone shut before Sakuno could even reply and walked directly upstairs, to get her travel bag she assumed. Inui would know that, how she wasn't sure, but she was positive he would know that. She expected Tezuka to keep his cool throughout this, but what she didn't expect was the fact that he kept walking down the steps and out the door after he got the bag. Then she heard the car start up, her eyes widened, as she heard it go down the street. She gritted her teeth through the pain and waited, soon she heard a car pull up and let the breath she was hold escape through her lips.

The door opened as a voice came to reach her ears, "There was a 97 chance he would leave you in his flustered state, and a 100 chance he wouldn't lock the door." Sakuno's eyes widened as Inui walked in the room and stood in front of her. "Let's get you to the hospital there is a-"

"Shut up and help me up," was Sakuno's reply.

She heard him mumble something about being 110 chance that she would do that. He ushered her into his car and ran back up to the door to lock it. Then they set off for the hospital.

"Don't worry Sakuno, I called everyone." She didn't doubt Inui's statement; he was known to be quite to gossiper.

It was like a whirlwind and soon she was at the hospital with familiar faces all around her and a guilty looking Tezuka standing to the side. Oh she would make him pay for leaving her at the house. The whole way to the hospital Inui was spouting out statistics and it was driving her mad.

She searched the crowd for her husband as the nurse asked her who she wanted to bring in with her, "He's not here."

"Well, we can have your husband come in when he gets here. Do you want someone else for the time being?" The nurse asked looking at the large group of men that had gathered…what type of woman was this? And why were all these tough looking guys here…well the red head with the Band-Aid didn't look too tough.

Sakuno smiled through her pain as she pointed directly at Tezuka.

"No-" He started but the rest of his old team glared at him.

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**The Waiting Room

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The rest of the team assembled in the waiting room. Shouts could be heard all the way down the hall…and they weren't Sakuno's. Eiji had broken out in fits of giggles when Tezuka had yelled, "What the hell is _that_?"

Ann came bounding down the hall with a smile on her face, "They said Sakuno just had the baby!"

Tezuka came wandering seconds later looking disheveled and his normal emotionless mask missing as shock filled his features. "I never want to have children…ever."

"What is it?" Eiji asked as he bounced up on his toes.

"A-"

"Where's Echizen?" Momo asked looking around, as it just hit him that the father had missed the birth of his own child.

"Yeah, he should have been here by now." Fuji said looking down at his watch, "And you called him, Inui. Right?"

All eyes fell on the silent data man.

Within seconds they heard yelling down the hall and Ann made a break for the hallway to see what was going on. She laughed lightly, "Oi, Echizen. Down here. You missed the birth of your child." She laughed as Ryoma flew into the room.

"Why didn't anyone tell me? I would have left the game at them moment I found this out! I had to come home and find out by seeing her travel bag missing from our bedroom! What happened? Where is she?"

"Two rooms down on the left, go see her yourself." Tezuka stated as Ryoma barely waited for him to finish as he left.

"So what is it?" Kaidoh hissed.

They didn't have to wait for Tezuka to answer as Ryoma shouted down the hall, "**Twins?**"

Oishi scratched the side of his head, "Wouldn't that have come up in tests?"

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**The End

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**Chibi-Kari: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed. I'm thinking of writing another Prince of Tennis story, but not comedy. I'm pretty good at writing other genres too. I hope some of you would give that story a try if I finish writing it. I'll leave you to guess the sex of the baby yourselves! Please Review!

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